Talk To Me
by Rochnariel
Summary: No big storyline or depth. Just a cute little fic about Elrohir and Estel and the relationship between them. WIP
1. Nightmares

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing of Tolkien's work or anything alon those lines. I am definitely not that creative.

**A/N:** This is not beta-ed. Sorry for all of the mistakes. I went through it all as thoroughly as possible, but Eledhiel is currently bussy with many other things to beta and I am just being impatient in starting to post this story. It is about 1/2 done or so. I plan on a chapter a week, but there are no cliffies and not really a deep storyline. It just a cute fic about Estel and Elrohir. Sorry, I wanted to get the agansty one out first but Laven is not helping me there.

**A/N 2: **I am well aware that Estel's mother did not die with Arathorn; however, I do not feel competent enouh to give her a workable personality and character, so in this story, she has been killed off. She died with Arathorn. Also, I know that Dilthenor is not the actually translation of "little one." However, I like it and it is only a nickname and at times nicknames are not exactly grammatically correct. So with that... on to the story.

"conversations"

'thoughts'

_flashbacks_

Talk To Me

Elrohir was suddenly wide awake as he heard a scream coming from the room across from his. He jumped quickly out of bed and was in his brother's room in mere seconds. Elladan was close behind him as they peered into Estel's room and saw the small boy shaking under all of the covers.

"Estel?" Elrohir questioned quietly moving into the room and sitting on the bed with a hand on Estel's shoulder. "What's wrong?" Elladan moved quickly over to the fireplace and got the flame once again burning high. It was the middle of winter and Estel was human; the young boy was probably cold even if that wasn't the cause of his shaking.

"Nightmare." Estel choked out trying not to cry. He was three now and had been in Rivendell for several months. However, he still did not feel completely comfortable around his adopted family. He felt out of place there. He was so different and didn't want to be a weak human amongst the elves. He wanted to be, need to be strong.

"Do you want to talk to me about it?" The boy shook his head as Elladan sat down on the other side of him. "Are you sure?" Elrohir's voice was calm and caring, but Estel shook his head again. He still was lying tangled in his blanket and made no move to let either twin comfort him.

Elrohir sighed slightly. He wished that Estel would accept their help and comfort. He was their brother. Elrohir could not have loved the boy more if he were actually his brother. At times, Estel seemed to be perfectly content with his family and at other times he completely shut them out. When Estel needed help or comfort, he would not talk about it or ask for it.

"Well, do you want a glass of warm milk to help you sleep?" Elladan offered hoping to at least distract his youngest brother. Estel nodded slightly and attempted to untangle himself from the covers. He was stuck and Elrohir and Elladan attempted to conceal their amusement as they helped him free himself. Refusing to be carried to the kitchen, Estel pulled on his slippers and followed the twins down the hall. The twins slowed their pace considerably to make up for the height difference.

Once in the kitchen, Elladan quickly set to work warming some milk, while Elrohir scoured the pantry for anything enticing to eat. He came up with some cookies left over from dessert that night. Estel sat content between the twins drinking the milk from a tiny glass and munching on a cookie. A half hour and a second glass of milk later, Elrohir carried a sleeping Estel back up to his rooms. He had insisted that he could walk, but put up no fight when Elrohir picked him up. He fell asleep almost instantly in the strong elf's hold.

It was now hours later, and yet Elrohir could not force himself from Estel's side. Elladan had gone back to bed a few hours ago and Estel still slept peacefully. Elrohir wished he could figure out the puzzle that was Estel. He wished he could understand the child's sudden mood swings. He was worst than Elladan in that way. Elrohir stood to return to his room when Estel started squirming in his sleep and tossed fitfully.

Elrohir sat on the bed and pulled Estel into his protective grasp. He wished he could walk into the boy's dreams and stop whatever was causing this. Estel awoke with a short scream and tried to pull away when he realized that someone was holding him.

"Ssshhh… it is okay, muindor-nin. Nothing can hurt you here." Elrohir spoke soothingly to Estel. Estel stopped pulling away and turned his head to glance up at the twin. "Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh." Estel replied, but his eyes told a different story.

"Are you sure? You can talk to me, Estel."

"Nightmare."

"The same one as before?" Estel nodded. "What happened?" Estel hesitated and wondered whether or not to tell the elf. He was didn't want Elrohir to see him as weak. He wanted his muindor to love him. "You know what, Dilthenor?" Elrohir asked after Estel did not answer.

"What?" Estel replied quietly glad that Elrohir was no longer questioning his dream.

"We all have nightmares at times. The trick is to know that it is not real, that it can not hurt you. It's all fake."

"Do you have nightmares?" Estel's eyes were wide as could be. He didn't think that any warrior elf could have his dreams invaded by scary images. In fact, he was certain that nothing could scare the twins.

"Yes, I do. We all do."

"Do they scare you?"

"Yes. It scares me because I feel so helpless."

"What do you do?"

Elrohir laughed slightly. "I run to El's bed and wake him up."

"You do?" Estel looked up at him wide-eyed and a little awed. Elrohir nodded. "I didn't think either of you could get scared."

"We all get scared at times, Dilthenor."

"What's that mean?"

"Dilthenor?" Estel nodded. "It means Little One."

"Ohh."

"Do you mind the name?" Estel shook his head. His own mother and father had called him that just not in elvish. "So, do you want to tell me what scared you?"

"My nightmare." Estel looked at Elrohir like he was stupid. 'He should know that, shouldn't he?' Elrohir glared at him trying to look mad, but it didn't work and sent Estel into a giggling fit.

"Well, I know that. What was in your dream?"

Estel took a shuddering breath and clung tightly to Elrohir. If Elrohir had nightmares, then he wouldn't be weak for having them. He could tell him now, and Elrohir would help him fight off the monsters. Elrohir stroked his hair and held him tightly letting Estel speak in his own time. "I saw scary looking creatures. They were destroying everything." Tears sprang to his eyes, but he continued talking. He needed to tell his muindor now. "Daddy was trying to protect me. He was trying to protect Mama and me. He couldn't. The monsters killed him. Him and Mama." Estel cried and cuddled up to Elrohir.

"Sshhh… Ssshhh, Estel. It's okay. They can't get you now." Elrohir spoke soothingly to Estel. He spent the next half hour calming the boy's fear and suppressing his own memories. Estel's dream had been exactly what he and Elladan had stumbled upon months ago. They tried in earnest to kill the orcs off and save the people that were attacked by them. They succeeded in some ways, but failed miserably when it came to Estel's parents. They found Estel, and knowing his parents were dead, took him home. Elrond adopted the boy and he was now as much a member of the family as he or Elladan was.

"Are you okay, El?" Estel had stopped crying and now was looking at Elrohir's face. It was grimacing as if in pain. Estel's voice shook Elrohir from his memories and he smiled at the concerned look on Estel's tiny face.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Dilthenor."

"No you're not. You're…" Estel tried to put emotions to the look, but couldn't. "No you're not. Come on." Estel jumped off the bed and pulled Elrohir's hand so that he would follow him.

"Okay, okay." Elrohir got up off the bed and followed Estel as he walked across the hall and into Elladan's room, which was connected to Elrohir's. Estel jumped on to Elladan's bed and woke him up.

"What is it, Estel?" Elladan asked tiredly and saw an apologetic look on his twins face.

"He's…. I don't know how he feels, but I'm scared and I think El's sad."

"Really?" Elladan eyed his twin and caught the hidden look of torment on Elrohir's face. "Well, then, I guess you can't go back to your own room, then can you?" Estel shook his head empathically. Elladan simply moved over making room for both Estel and Elrohir. He, also, silently thanked his ada for making his and Elrohir's beds extra big for just such occasions. Estel fell asleep quickly in the protective grasp of the twins. "What scared him?" Elladan mouthed more than spoke to his twin.

"Orcs. He saw his parents death." Elrohir mouthed back. Elladan nodded and remained silent. Estel talked to them about his nightmare. They were making progress at least.

**To Be Continued**

I told you. Not much depth and storyline. It was just in my mind begging to be written.


	2. Fitting In

A/N: Sorry this took a little while to get up, but school, work, tuberculosis, scholarship essays,... got in the way. Basically, real life, well minus the whole TB thing. Anyways, thank you to all of you who reviewed. It was great to read it all and has given me a lot of confidence to post more, although I don't like how this chapter has come out as much as the last one came out, but well here it is. Also, this is again un-beta'd so if you find mistakes, point them out so I can fix it them since grammar is not my strong suit. Also, thank you to Eledhiel for the punishment in this chapter. I would never be able to stand doing your job, sis. An hour was hard enough.

Other than that, see Chapter one for addition disclaimers and notes.

Oh yeah, and one final thank you to HarryEstel. You were my first review ever and my first review in this story. Your comments make me want to write more.

_1 YEAR LATER_

Elrohir sighed slightly rebraiding his hair. He and Elladan had just returned from two months spent traveling with the rangers. After a long bath and washing his hair three times, he finally felt like all of the grime was off of him. Now, he wished to find Estel. He couldn't imagine how much the boy had grown. He never seemed to stop. Unfortunately, he had to attend a feast for visiting elves from Mirkwood. The reunion with Estel would have to wait. The boy was probably already asleep anyway. He walked across the hall. 'It couldn't do any harm to check on him before heading downstairs,' Elrohir convinced himself. He opened the door expecting to find the boy curled up under a mass of covers. The bed was empty. Elrohir quickly scanned the room and saw Estel sitting in the window.

"Estel." Elrohir said quietly walking over to the window. "Why aren't you in bed?"

"EL! You're back!" Estel flung himself off the window and into Elrohir's arms. He noticed the formal robes and pulled a face. "Do you have to go to a feast?"

"Yes, I do."

"But I wanted to play."

"You're suppose to be in bed. We can play tomorrow."

"But…" Estel stopped himself.

"Why are you out of bed?"

"Couldn't sleep."

"Why not?" Estel shrugged. Elrohir walked over to the bed and sat down on it. "Estel, talk to me."

"I don't want to." Estel wiggled out of Elrohir's grasp and ran towards the door, but Elrohir grabbed him before he could get out of it.

"Estel, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Elrohir looked down at him with a disbelieving look. "You're going to be late. Ada gets mad when we're late."

"He'll understand." Estel kept his mouth clamped shut. Elrohir sighed and sat back down on the bed holding Estel in his lap. There was a soft knock on the door and Elladan poked his head in.

"El, we're going to be late."

"Tell Ada I'll be down in a little bit. I need to have a talk with Estel first."

"He's going to be mad. The Prince is here. Apparently, Ada wants to make a good impression."

"I'll deal with whatever he wants to do to me later. This is important." Elrohir eyed his twin, and Elladan reluctantly left the room. He wanted to stay and find out what was wrong with Estel, but at least one of the twins needed to be on time, and unusually, it seemed like it was going to have to be him.

"Ada's going to be mad." Estel proclaimed again.

"That's okay. I'll deal with it. You're more important. So what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"So you're staying up for the fun of it."

"No…. I was going to sleep tomorrow after lessons, but now that you and El are home I'll sleep now." That sounded weird to Elrohir. Estel played with his friends when he and Elladan were busy.

"What about your friends?" Estel didn't answer. Elrohir knew now. Estel was having problems with the elflings. Elrohir understood completely. He and Elladan used to have problems with other elflings their age when they were growing up. Being lords of Rivendell did not exactly help when making friends. But he and Elladan always had each other when the others shunned them.

"I didn't want to play with them." Estel said so quietly that Elrohir barely heard him.

"Why not?"

"They don't like me." Elrohir waited for Estel to continue, but he didn't.

"Still don't want to talk about it." Estel shook his head. "What do you want to do?"

"I'm hungry." Elrohir thought about it for a second. Well, if Estel changed, maybe Ada wouldn't kill him for bringing the boy. 'What could it hurt,' Elrohir thought. 'I'm already in trouble.'

"Well, change and you can come with me to dinner."

"But Ada told me I couldn't this time."

"He'll understand."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Change quick." Estel did as told and was soon dressed in his best clothes, which were a little to small for him even though they had only been made a few months ago.

Elrohir walked into the dining hall holding Estel. Elrond glared at them, but Elrohir just stretched up taller and walked over to his seat beside his Ada and across from Elladan.

"You're late." Elrond proclaimed a little annoyed. "And you're suppose to be in bed."

"Sorry, Ada. Estel couldn't sleep, and we didn't get to far by talking about it. Someone clammed up." Elrohir tickled his brother, and Estel giggled before both met the glare from their Adar which quickly silenced them.

Elrond quickly came up with a solution to the extra person at the meal. Estel was sat next to Prince Legolas in a seat that was suppose to be used by one of his party, but the elf had gotten injured on the way and did not wish to attend the meal.

The meal was a very tense one as Elrond was displeased with his son, and Legolas completely ignored the boy sitting next to him save a few glances. He didn't say a word the entire meal. It was a very thankful group that finally stood and made their way to the Hall of Fire. Elrond stopped Elrohir from joining the group immediately pulling him into one of the small rooms.

"Yes, Ada?" Elrohir questioned.

"Why did you bring Estel?"

"He couldn't sleep and said he was hungry." Elrond eyed his son knowing that their was much more that he wasn't being told.

"Why was Estel awake?"

"He told me that he was going to sleep tomorrow afternoon. He didn't want to play with his friends." Elrond was a little confused by this. The boy had not mentioned any problems to him.

"Did he say anything else?"

"Only that his friends did not like him." Elrond walked to the Hall of Fire pondering that thought. Elrohir followed quickly. He didn't need to be late twice in one day especially when he had only been in Imladris for a few hours.

The next day started for Elrohir with a long lecture from Elrond about being on time and such things. Elrohir listened closely and replied when prompted to. He knew that it was coming along with some form of punishment.

Later that afternoon, Elrohir was serving out his punishment shelving books in the library. He didn't mind books. In fact, he immensely enjoyed reading, but shelving books for hours straight was definitely a little annoying and incredibly boring. He swore never to leave another book un-shelved that he had been using. He felt horrible for the elf who normally had to do this without being punished. He rubbed his eyes wearily. Even with his elven vision titles were starting to blur, and he was becoming slightly dyslexic. He sighed as he tried to read the title of the book in his hand for the third time.

"Whatcha doing?" Estel questioned flinging himself onto a nearby couch.

"What does it look like, Dilthenor?" Elrohir said taking another look at the book in his hand and realizing he was in the entirely wrong section for the book.

"I meant why are you doing it."

"Because I was late yesterday."

"Oh. I'll help." Elrohir laughed lightly. Estel was barely beginning to learn how to read much less shelve books in more language than Elrohir liked knowing.

"That's okay. Why aren't you outside with your friends?" Estel shrugged noncommittally. "Estel?"

"What? I wanted to play with you and El."

"Well I am slightly busy caring out my punishment, and I think El is with Ada and Prince Legolas."

"Oh." Estel sounded very disheartened. "Well then, I guess I will just stay here and keep you company." Elrohir put down the book he was holding and went over and kneeled in front of Estel so that he was eye level with him.

"Why don't you go outside and play with your friends?" Elrohir said softly approaching the subject he wished to finish last night.

"Don't want to."

"Why not?" Estel remained mute. "Talk to me, Dilthenor."

"They don't like me."

"I highly doubt that. Who couldn't like a crazy boy like you?" Elrohir tussled Estel's already messing hair. His action did nothing to lighten Estel's mood.

"They make fun of me." 'Now they were getting somewhere,' Elrohir thought.

"Why do they make fun of you?"

"I can't climb like they do and they pull on my ears because they aren't pointed and they laugh at my hair and they tell me I'll never be good at anything because I'm a human and… and… and I think they're right." Tears were streaming silently down Estel's face as he said the last part in an almost mute whisper.

"Now, what would ever make you think that?" Elrohir moved so that he was sitting next to Estel and pulled the young human into his arms.

"Because I am human. I'll never be as good as them. I can barely even climb a tree."

"Hey, that has nothing to do with you being human."

"It doesn't?" Estel stared at Elrohir curiously. Elrohir knew part of what he was saying was a lie, but there was a little bit of truth behind his words and that was what Estel needed to hear right now.

"No it doesn't. Do you remember that Ada told you elves grow up slower than humans?" Estel nodded. Elrond had told him this to explain why many of his friends would not grow up and pass through their lessons and training with him. "Well you see, those elflings have just had more time to practice."

"Oh, so if I practice really hard then I can be just as good as them?" Estel said with a big smile slowly spreading across his face.

"Yes, you can." Estel jumped off of the couch and started dragging Elrohir with him.

"Come on El. You need to help me learn how to climb better than all of them. I'm going to practice and practice and practice until I'm way better than all of them. I don't care how long it takes." Elrohir laughed and followed Estel abandoning his task. Elrond would forgive him. It could wait. Estel's eagerness and determination surprised Elrohir, but he figure Estel would put it to good use in the future.

**To Be Continued...**


	3. Family?

A/N: Hi, all. Sorry this didn't get up last week as I said that I would do. Real Life has been absolutely wretched to me lately. Working 38 hours and going to school and all that is not fun. Anyways, here is this chapter. I don't think that there is much to explain about it all. Thank you to all who review. It makes me so happy to read them. Again this chapter is un-beta-ed so if you find mistakes please let me know. I tried to go through it all, but I am definitely not an English major. See previous chapters for additional notes and disclaimers.

_1 YEAR LATER_

"Elrohir," Elladan called down the hall to his twin. Elrohir turned balancing five books in one hand and a glass of wine in the other hand.

"What's up, El? I have a meeting in ten minutes."

"I can't find Estel."

"And that's odd how?" Estel had a habit of being late to things or disappearing for hours. He did not exactly have the best sense of time. "He's probably just with some of his friends."

"We had a fencing lesson planned." Suddenly Elrohir understood the worry he saw in Elladan's eyes. Estel was never late for anything that had to do with a sword. He loved the practice and training begging both twins to practice with him at every free moment.

"Let me set these things in the library and I'll help you look. Go tell Ada. He'll want to know."

"I'll meet you in the gardens in ten minutes." Elrohir rushed off to the library and dropped the books and wine before going to his room and grabbing his bow, quiver, and sword. In these times, he rarely left the house without weapons. Imladris may be safe, but you never knew. There were an increasing number of orc and warg attacks.

Elladan was waiting with Glorfindel and a few other elves when Elrohir reached the garden. Elrond was talking to a few young elflings a little ways off. He walked over to the group elves dismissing the elflings with a stern word and a promise to tell their parents.

"What is it, Ada?" Elladan questioned worriedly.

"It seems that the elflings were terrorizing Estel about being adopted again. They said that we only feel sorry for him. That we don't love him and he isn't really a part of the family. That combined with a few well meant, but harsh words from his archery instructor today seems to have sent him over the edge. He ran off into the woods a few hours ago."

"But it's winter," Elladan began.

"And it's snowing," Elrohir continued.

"And Estel is human."

"He'll freeze"

"Or get sick"

"Or attacked." Elrond shook his head. The twins still finished each other sentences and thoughts even though they did not notice it anymore. At least, he was now able to easily follow their train of thought unlike when they were elflings.

"That's why we have to find him and quick. At least the snow should provide us with some workable tracks as long as it doesn't start snowing harder." Elrond stated leading the group out to where the elflings said that they were playing when Estel ran off.

Unfortunately the weather did not listen to Lord Elrond and the snow was falling heavily by the time that they got there. All of Estel's tracks were hidden even though he was unable to walk on top of the snow like the elves.

'Great,' Elrohir thought. 'Just our luck. The stupid storm couldn't hold off for a few more hours.' He looked over at Elladan and knew that he shared the thought.

"El," Elrond called to both twins. "You will search north of here. Give two sharp whistles if you find him. Glorfindel, you…" The twins took off looking to the north without listening to the rest of Elrond's directions.

They walked about 20 feet apart with all of their senses alert. Even at 5 years old, Estel was hard to find when he did not want to be. They called to him every few moments. There was never any answer and after an hour they both began to get frustrated and even more worried. They were getting closer to the borders of Imladris and they knew that more dangers lay outside of its borders.

They walked another hour. Not a word was said by the two except for calling to Estel. Elrohir looked to his right and saw Elladan there looking at him. He looked as though he wanted to break something, anything in half just to release the building frustration. Elrohir's own feelings shone deeply in his eyes.

"Where could that child be?" Elladan said whipping a snowball at a tree and missing it in his frustration.

"Ow," came a small and weak reply from the direction of the tree saving Elladan a few teasing words from his twin. The twins exchanged a confused look and headed towards the noise. As they got closer, something tried to scurry away only to fall back down. Both twins rushed to the side of the fallen. It was face down in the snow, but both would have known the tangled mess of dark hair anywhere.

"Estel," Elrohir said quietly rolling Estel onto his back in the snow. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Estel choked out. "Leave me alone. I know you don't want to be here."

"What do you mean?" Elladan asked before letting out the two sharp whistles.

"Never mind." Estel said trying to stand only to find himself back in the snow.

"What happened?" Elrohir asked.

"I hurt my leg."

"How?"

"Fell out of a tree." Elrohir carefully examined the leg around Estel's boot. Estel winced in pain slightly. The ankle did not seem to be broken, but it was hard to tell with the boot still on. Elrohir pulled his cloak off and wrapped it around the shivering form of his younger muindor.

"Now do you want to tell us why you ran away?" Elrohir questioned softly.

"No. You don't want to know. You don't care." Estel replied trying to pull away. Elladan pulled his own cloak off and wrapped it around Estel catching the boy in his firm embrace.

"Of course we care Estel. Why wouldn't we?" Elladan said. Estel did not reply and pulled out of both of their grasps. He was instantly swept up again.

"There you are, ion-nin." Elrond whispered happily. "You had us all worried." Estel did not reply, but did not try to get away either. He let his Adar carry him, but if anyone could have seen the look in his eyes they would have seen defiance not thought possible in a five year old.

Once home and back in his own bed with the sprained ankle attended to, Estel laid with his eyes closed and faked sleeping. He did not want to talk to anyone and was looking for the first opportunity to escape again. Even after that evening's events, he was certain that his family only felt sorry for him. Elrond had tried to talk to him while he saw to the injured ankle but did not get very far. He had left the Estel's room a few minutes ago having been summoned to a meeting.

Elrohir sat looking at his muindor. He was not fooled as his Ada had been. He knew that Estel was awake. He got up from the chair where he had been keeping his vigil and sat down on the bed. He was careful to not disturb Estel's blankets. Estel had developed a cold while out in the snow for so long.

"So do you want to tell me why you ran?" Elrohir said to the unmoving form on the bed. The only answer was more silence. "Estel, I know you are not sleeping."

"Go away." The still form answered.

"I can't do that. I know what the elflings told you." Estel rolled over. "They were lying. I thought we talked about this the last time they said something." Estel sat up pulling the blankets up with him, but still did not speak. "Elflings say mean things at times. You can't believe them. You have to believe what you know in your heart, what you feel. You know we love you. You know you are a part of this family."

"Elflings not the problem." Estel muttered almost silently. Elrohir only heard because of his elven hearing; a human would have missed it easily.

"Well if it wasn't the elflings, what was it?" Estel stayed silent. The door opened distracting Elrohir for a moment until he noticed that it was only Elladan bringing their dinner. Elladan set the tray down and joined his twin. "Dilthenor, talk to me."

"Don't want to."

"Well, these things won't just go away." Elladan replied.

"You know you can always talk to us." Elrohir put in.

"Don't want to."

"He's very articulate, isn't he?" Elladan said teasingly to his twin.

"What's arti… artic…?"

"Never mind, Estel. Just tell us what's wrong." Elrohir said.

"You don't care. You don't love me."

"Meleth lle." Both twins said at once and shoved each other moments later simultaneously as well which sent Estel into a giggling fit.

"See," Elrohir started.

"We love you," Elladan continued.

"And so does Ada."

"But I'm not family. I'm adopted." Tears sprang to Estel's eyes and Elrohir quickly wrapped him up in his arms. Estel tried to wiggle out of his arms when he stopped crying, but Elrohir would not let him.

"Estel," Elrohir started again. "Just because you are adopted, doesn't mean that you are not family."

"In fact," Elladan continued as Estel once again relaxed in Elrohir's arms. "It means that you are family and that we love you incredibly much." Estel looked a little perplexed.

"See, Elladan and I got stuck with each other and Arwen. We had no choice to be family. We were because we had the same parents, which we had no say in either."

"But you love each other." Estel replied looking at one twin and then the next for further explanation. "And you love Arwen, right?"

"Yes, we do." Elladan replied playing with Estel's ever messy hair.

"But you see we didn't choose to be family. We chose you."

"We chose to make you our brother."

"And Ada chose to adopt you."

"But I was little. You just felt sorry for me." Estel cut in.

"No, we didn't just feel sorry for you." Elrohir answered finally letting Estel out of his protective and loving hold.

"We loved you the moment we saw you." 'After we had killed off the orcs, sifted through the carnage, and found your silent form in the mists of it all.' Both twins added silently to themselves.

"And were overjoyed when Ada told us he was adopting you. You are our brother just as much as Arwen is our sister." Estel knew little of his sister, other than the fact that the twins loved her and were protective of her, and she lived in Lothlorien with his grandparents, whom he has also never seen.

"Estel, who told you this? What made you think this?"

"Heard adults talking." Estel barely choked out wrapping himself back up in Elrohir's arms while Elladan laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Who?"

"What did they say?"

"I don't know who. I didn't see them. They said that I could never be family because I was human. They said that you guys could not love me. They were lying, weren't they?" Estel looked up at the twins, apprehension apparent in his voice despite the conversation so far.

"Of course they were lying." A voice from the doorway floated in to the trio's ears. Elrond walked over to the bed and pulled Estel out of Elrohir's arms and into his own. Estel smiled at the sight of his Ada. "Meleth lle, ion-nin."

"Ada, I am family, right?" Both twins smiled at their brother's complete trust in Elrond's answers. Elrond smiled down at Estel. He was so much like the twins were at that age. They had different fears but were much the same in how they expressed them. It was amazing that the three were not truly related.

"Yes, you are. I adopted you and love you, as do El. That is enough to make you family, ion-nin. You want to know what, though?"

"What?" The twins looked at their Ada slightly confused. 'Would could he possibly tell, Estel?' Elrohir thought.

"You are related to us."

"I am!"

"Yes, you are."

"How? I'm not an elf."

"Well, I had a twin."

"Like El."

"Much like them." Elrond laughed slightly remember how mischievous he and Elros had been. They were as bad as Elladan and Elrohir, if not worse. "His name was Elros and he is one of your forefathers."

"What's that mean?"

"It means that he was you great great great grandfather by a few hundred generations."

"So if he was your muindor, then I would be your nephew, right?"

"Yes, you would."

"But how did that happen? He's an elf."

"Yes, he was. Estel, I am only partially an elf. I have human blood in me."

"Like me." Estel said beaming.

"Yes, like you. Since Elros and I had that human blood, we had to decide whether we wanted to be an elf or a human. I chose to be an elf; Elros chose to be a human." Elrond kept a smile on his face hiding the true emotions from his face. It was a painful memory, but if it eased Estel's pain, he would gladly endure it. The twins did not miss it and both placed a comforting hand on his shoulders.

"Oh, if I'm related to him, so I have to be related to you too." Estel looked incredibly happy and gave Elrond a big hug. Then, he wrapped himself in the twins' arms again.

"Okay, ion-nin, it's time for you to go to bed. Say goodnight to your brothers." Estel regretfully did as told and laid easily in his bed falling asleep quickly.

"I am going to find out who he heard and make them pay." Elladan said quietly walking out of the room.

"I'm with you." Elrohir replied even though he did not need to. Elladan already knew that he was.

**To Be Continued...**


	4. A Loss Remembered

**Author's Note**: Okay, this note actually has a point. Well, kind of. Anyways, this is un-beta-ed but you guys are probably used to that by now. The exciting part, however, is that my beta should be done with it soon. Then, I will repost the first four chapters with her corrections and with all of the corrections my wonderful reviewers have left me. Thank you all for reviewing.

Okay, the second and more important part of this little note. I realized after rereading this that it can sound a little confusing with how Estel refers to the twins. So I shall explain since my grammar is not as bad as it sounds at parts. Estel refers to Elrohir as El, Elladan as El, and both twins at once as El, which is also how I tend to refer to them when talking to my beta and seeing how confused she can get I figured I would tell you guys before you started reading. If it is too confusing, please let me know and I will change it accordingly to make it clearer.

Finally(I know this is getting long but I have one more thing to say), I know that Estel's mother died when he was nine. However, I can not seem to write a suitable character for her so I killed her off with Arathorn. That said, she would have died when Estel was two meaning that he will have no memories of her. However, he could, and does in this story, still feel her loss and be saddened by it. It would not always be a conscious thought, but it could sneak up on him at times. Believe me, I know this from first hand experience.

**_9 YEARS LATER_**

"El," Estel said running into the library at full speed. "Whatcha doing?"

Elrohir looked up from his book just in time to catch the vase Estel hit when jumping onto the couch. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"You don't have to teach lessons today?" Elrohir and Elladan had recently taken over some of the younger elflings classes since they were in Imladris for longer periods of time then they had been in past years. They never seemed to be able to stay away for long since Estel came into the picture.

"No, I don't. Erestor took over them for the week. El and I needed a rest."

"Oh," Estel sounded slightly disheartened.

"Why? What did you want?"

"To go hunting or something. Get away for like a week." The idea sounded appealing to Elrohir; he wanted to get away and taking Estel hunting would be perfect. He missed the tone that Estel used which generally meant that there was something more to what he was saying.

"Let's go find El then." Estel dragged Elrohir away from the library before he could reshelf the book he was reading. Elrohir promised himself to come back and take care of the book before some poor, unfortunate soul had to do it for him. He never forgot how bad his punishment was the one time he had to do it.

"El!" Estel went running through the halls yelling for Elladan. He flew into his room to discover Elladan was not there. He went running from the room and down the hall to his Ada's study. "El!" He yelled again as he flew into the study and collided with Elrond.

"Estel," Elrond said stilling the boy so that he didn't fall. "Why are you running through the house?" Elrond looked questioningly at Estel before raising his glance as Elrohir entered the room.

"I was looking for El."

"I believe he is right behind you."

"Not El, Ada, El." Elrond barely stopped himself from shaking his head as Estel looked at him in disbelief. Elrond had gotten used to the twins being referred to with the same name and generally knew who Estel was talking about although he rarely used either twins' whole name. "Do you know where he is?"

"I believe he is sparring with Glorfindel."

"Thanks, Ada." Estel flew out of the room.

"Estel, stop running in the house." Elrond called after his youngest son. Elrohir looked apologetically at his Ada before turning from the room and running after Estel. "Elrohir, stop running." Elrond called after his middle son. He was wondering where Elladan was to complete his yelling tirade. Things generally happened in threes around Imladris.

Estel ran to the training field without yelling. He knew better then to yell around there. Distraction and swords do not generally mix. Elrohir caught up to Estel as he dropped to the ground and watched the rest of Elladan's and Glorfindel's match. It ended rather quickly after Estel and Elrohir arrived. The match had been going on for about a half hour and both Elladan and Glorfindel were tired.

"Estel, El," Elladan said dropping down onto the grass next to them. "What are you doing here?"

"Can we go hunting?" Estel asked pleadingly.

"Sure. When do you want to leave?"

"Now."

"Well, do you think I can change and grab my bow first?"

"Sure. And we have to get food and cloaks and other supplies."

"How long do you plan on us being gone for?"

"A week."

"Any particular reason why a week"

"Nope." Estel was again using the tone of voice which hinted at a deeper meaning, and this time Elrohir did not miss it, but he didn't broach the subject yet.

"Well, then I guess we should go ask Ada." Elrohir said instead. Estel jumped up and was about to start running again but Elladan and Elrohir grabbed him. "Don't run. You heard what Ada said." Estel and Elrohir walked calmly(at least faking-ly calm) through the house to Elrond's study, while Elladan went to clean up and pack supplies.

"Ada," Estel said quietly knocking on the door.

"Come in, Estel. What do you need?" Elrond asked moving from his desk to sit on the couch with his sons.

"Can we go hunting?" Estel asked excitedly.

"Who is we?"

"Me and El."

"And when are you leaving?"

"As soon as El changes and packs supplies, and we grab our bows. I don't have any lessons for the next week. Well, at least no lessons that El don't already teach me."

"You're going to be gone all week?"

"Yeeaaaahhhh…" Estel looked down. He knew his Ada would probably catch the hidden meaning.

"You know that you have your graduation ceremony at the end of the week. You can't miss that."

"Why not? El always do."

"Yes, they do, but they did not miss their own. They only seem to miss the others they are expected to attend."

"They're boring." Elrohir cut in and Elrond shot him what can only be describe as an 'Elrond look.' This one meant that if you know what is best for you, you will shut up and listen to me right now. "Sorry, Ada."

"Estel, you and your brothers may go hunting, but you must be back in two days."

Estel walked dejectedly from the room, mumbling something which sounded like 'if I have to be back for the stupid ceremony, then I don't want to go at all.' After a few words with Elrond, Elrohir walked out of the room and searched for Estel.

Elrohir found Estel in the most unlikely of places: his room. "Hey, Estel. El's ready to leave. We just have to let him know that we have to be back early."

"I don't want to go."

"Why not?"

"Because I still have to go to the stupid ceremony. I don't want to."

"And why not?"

"'Cause I don't."

"I bet there's more to it then that." Estel shook his head. "Talk to me, Dilthenor. What's the problem?"

"It's a stupid ceremony."

"No, it's not. It's important. It tells everyone that you have gained enough skill and knowledge to be considered for warrior training."

"It's still stupid."

"You should be proud of yourself. You did it in less than half the time of the elflings." The class graduating was relative to Estel's age, but as they aged slower they had more time to gain the necessary points to pass. Estel had worked overtime to keep up and pass up the elflings.

"Doesn't matter."

"What's the real reason you don't want to go?"

"I want to go hunting with just you and El. You guys are gone so much." Estel didn't meet Elrohir's eyes when he spoke.

"We've been home a lot lately. What is the real reason, Dilthenor?" Elrohir had a pretty good idea of what it could be, but he wanted Estel to confirm his thoughts.

"Stop calling me that. I'm not little anymore." Estel turned to walk from his room, but Elrohir caught his arm and turned him to face him once more. "I just don't want to go to it." Elrohir said nothing, but his look told Estel to keep talking. Estel stayed silent for a long time testing his muindor's will and patience. "Fine." Estel pulled out of Elrohir's grasp and walked over and sat on the window looking outside. "I'm going to be out of place. I always have been." Elrohir knew that Estel was probably thinking about Elenaen. Elenaen was the elf that had made Estel run away years ago. He spoke a few harsh comments, which Estel had overheard.

"No you're not. You are a son of Lord Elrond and therefore a Lord of this house. Everyone accepts you as such even Elenaen does now." The twins had made sure of that. Elenaen had suffered their wrath, in the form of loud screaming, some choice duties (i.e. long border patrols and other hated assignments), and one fight. Elrond had been quick to intercede and punished Elladan accordingly.

Elrohir followed Estel over to the window and placing a hand on his shoulder. 'I remember when he was young,' Elrohir thought. 'It was so easy. Just pull him into your arms and all his problems seemed to fade away. He insists he's to old for that now. I wish he wasn't. Humans grow up too fast.'

"Not what I was talking about." Estel didn't go any further.

"Well, since I seem to have jumped to the wrong conclusions, enlighten me. What's the problem?"

"I'm going to have no one to stand up there with me. Everyone else will. I have no Naneth." Tears were threatening in Estel's eyes now, so Elrohir wrapped his arms around the boy and was slightly surprised when Estel didn't protest. Estel didn't remember his mother well, but he still remembered bits and pieces, and he, also, knew that there was a gap in his family. It didn't often hurt or threaten to make him cry, but today it all seemed to build up to much because of the ceremony and the expected role of mothers. It made him remember all to much what he was missing.

"Estel," Elrohir said quietly. "Not just mothers stand up with their sons. Fathers are allowed to, too."

"I know." Estel dried the tears in his eyes quickly feeling slightly ashamed that he had allowed him self to cry, while Elrohir pushed any memory of Celebrian far from his memory. That was the last thing he needed to be thinking about right now. "But Ada has to speak through the whole thing and give everyone their new sheaths." The sheaths, until an elf was a warrior, depicted what part of training they were in. During the ceremony, each elfling would give their sheath to Lord Elrond and he would give them their new ones. "I'm going to have to stand up their alone." Elflings parents were present to recognize that their children have grown up; they, by their presence, give their consent and show that they believe their children are ready.

"No, you're not." Elladan said from his spot in the doorway. He had heard the last part of the conversation, but did not see the need to make his presence known before now. Estel and Elrohir turned away from the outside view to see Elladan walking towards them and sitting on Estel's bed. Estel jumped off the window and sat on the bed next to Elladan, while Elrohir took a seat on the floor facing them.

"How am I not? There is no one. Ada can't and…" Estel left it at that. He knew both twins knew his thoughts.

"Are you forgetting that you have two brothers?"

"No, but I thought it has to be parents, and you have to stand with your classes or your companies. Don't you?"

"We haven't been to one of these in…." There was a long pause while both twins tried to think of the last time they actually attended the ceremony. "I can't remember the last time we actually went to one."

"I think it was our own."

"No, we've been to one after that, haven't we?"

"I don't think so El."

"Why would they miss us now?"

"I think they learned how to deal without us in our official roles years ago." The twins actually were suppose to be in three places at once during the ceremony, but they always seemed to 'mysteriously disappear' during it. Generally, they were hunting, visiting Lothlorien, or riding with the Rangers.

"But doesn't it have to be parents?"

"I think we can stretch the rules a little bit."

"I'm sure Ada will let us."

"Now, are you ready to leave? We already lost enough hunting time today."

"Yeah, let's go." Estel grabbed his bow and pack and went running out the door with the twins chasing after him.

Elrond looked out from the window in his study to see the three racing to the stables. Elrohir was in the lead, and as he could groom his horse quickest, he would probably win the race. Elrond had heard his sons conversation and thought the twins solution to be the perfect solution. He heard mock arguments and laughter floating up from the stables.

Lord Elrond laughed slightly as Estel called Elladan his mother. Elrohir was more than happy to join in the teasing, and soon Elladan had abandoned his grooming and was chasing after Estel. Eventually, Elladan caught Estel and tossed him in the water trough. Elrond laughed again as a knock on the door caused him to focus his attention elsewhere. Everything seemed to be back to normal in Imladris; well as normal as could be expected with the twins and Estel loose.

**To Be Continued**

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